Lamp filmament transfer device



March 1966 s. E. o'r'r. JR, ETAL 3,240,239

LAMP FILAMENT TRANSFER DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 26, 1965 Im/enOT'S'. George E. D m-t JT'. Edwin J. Lohre E3 fl x/ Thei A t rneg March15, 1966 s. E. OTT, JR, ETAL 3,240,239

LAMP FILAMENT TRANSFER DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 26, 1963 M LZvgmww nvw m H b March 15, 1966 e. E. OTT, JR., ETAL 3,240,239

LAMP FILAMENT TRANSFER DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed June 26, 1963Immznfiovs. Geov cge E. C L- t J1".

Edwin J. L hT'e Their Afijvneg United States Patent 3,240,239 LAMPFILAMENT TRANSFER DEVICE George E. Ott, In, East Lake, and Edwin J.Lohrey,

Macedonia, Dhio, assignors to General Electric Company, a corporation ofNew York Filed June 26, 1963, Ser. No. 290,728 6 (Ilaims. (Cl. 14071.6)

This invention relates generally to filament mounting machines forelectrical devices such as incandescent lamps, and more particularly tofilament feeding or transfer mechanism for such machines.

General service incandescent lamps are conventionally made with coiledcoil filaments comprising a coiled coil body or barrel portion havingsingle coiled legs extending longitudinally from the ends thereof. Suchfilaments have been mounted heretofore by means of mechanisms similar tothose shown in Patents 2,781,796, Dilts and 2,984,266, Lohrey et al.,wherein the filament was received in horizontal position in the suctionhead of a transfer arm which was moved forwardly to carry the filamenttoward a lamp stem and which was rotated to a vertical position to bringthe filament coil legs into hooks on the ends of lead wires on saidstem. While in that position the filament was gauged by mechanismengaging the ends of the filament legs and compressing the coil to apredetermined length, after which the lead wire hooks were clamped tosecure the filament legs therein.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improvedmechanism capable of operation at higher rates of speed in keeping withthe increase in operating speeds of associated equipment. To that end,in accordance with the invention, there is provided a plurality offilament coil holders mounted on a turret having a horizontal axis andmovable horizontally along said turret so that at the same time that afilament holder at a loading station of the turret is receiving afilament, a filament holder at another station is delivering a filamentand orienting it into the hooks of a lamp stern. In further accord withthe invention, there is preferably included a filament gauging mechanismlocated at a gauging station intermediate the aforesaid loading anddelivery stations which gauges a filament carried by a holder present atsaid gauging station so that all three operations of receiving, gaugingand delivering respective filaments are carried out at the same time,thereby speeding up the overall operation.

Further features and advantages of the invention will appear from thefollowing detailed description of a species thereof and from the drawingwherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a filament transfer mechanism comprisingthe invention, and associated clamping mechanism;

FIGS. 2 and 3 are top and side views, partly in section, of one of thefilament transfer heads carried by the turret;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of filament holder jaws in open position;

FIG. 5 is a front end elevation of the mechanism;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a lamp stem and a filament coil inprocess of assembly;

FIG. 7 is an elevation of a filament gauging mechanism as viewed fromthe back end of the transfer mechanism;

FIG. 8 is a rear end elevation of the transfer mechanism; and

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a cam shaft assembly.

Generally speaking, the feed or transfer device comprises a turret 1(FIGS. 1 and 4) mounted for rotation on a horizontal shaft 2 andcarrying a plurality 3,24@,239 Patented Mar. 15, 1966 (four) of heads 3which are carried to four stations I to W by the turret. Each head 3comprises a slide 4 which is horizontally slideable in ways 5 (FIG. 5)on the turret 1. Each slide carries cooperating stationary and moveablefilament holding jaws 6 and 7 which are mounted on a hollow spindle 8(FIGS. 1, 2 and 3) which is journaled for rotation in bearing bosses 9and 10 on each slide 4.

The function of the device is to deliver a filament, particularly acoiled coil filament having a coiled coil body portion or barrel 11(FIG. 6) and single coiled longitudinally extending legs 12, into hooks13 in the ends of lead wires 14 and 15 of a stem 16 such as shown inFIG. 6. The horizontally disposed filament is released from the end of achute 17 (FIG. 1) at the loading station I and is guided by a moveableguide member 18 (FIGS. 1 and 4) into a V-shaped groove 19 (FIG. 3) whichextends across the width of the upper horizontal face of jaw 6, themoveable jaw 7 being at that time held in open position as shown in FIG.4. The jaw 7 is then released to be closed by a leaf spring 20 to clampthe body or barrel of the filament in said groove 19 with the filamentlegs 12 extending beyond the sides of the jaws 6 and 7. The turret 1 isthen indexed to bring the head 3 to station II at one side of the turretwhere the filament is held in a vertical position by the jaws 6 and 7.At this time, jaw 7 is moved slightly toward open position to relax itsgrip on the filament, and the filament is gauged by movement of a pairof gauging cups 21 (FIGS. 5 and 7) which move into alignment with thefilament to engage the legs 12 and compress the filament to a commonminimum length, after which the gripping jaw 7 is again closed tightlyagainst the barrel of the filament to hold it securely in its compressedlength. Station III of the turret is an idle position. The filamentarrives at delivery station IV again in a vertical position. Thefilament holder jaws 6 and 7 move forwardly by movement of the slide 3in the turret 1, to carry the filament toward the stem 16 (FIG. 1) whichis held on a head (not shown) on the mount making machine. During thisforward movement of jaws 6 and 7, they are rotated slightly by rotationof the spindle 8 on which they are mounted, to tilt the filament 11 offthe verical, as shown at station IV in FIG. 5, whereby to permit thefilament legs 12 to clear the lead wire hooks 13 as shown in FIG. 6.When the filament has arrived at the plane of the lead wires 14, 15, thejaws 6 and 7 are rotated to bring the filament back to a verticalposition with its legs 12 inserted in the hooks 13. The said hooks 13are then clamped securely upon the filament legs 12 by pairs of clampingjaws 22, 23 and 22', 23 (FIG. 1), the moveable filament holder jaw 7 isopened nad remains open as the jaws 6, 7 are retracted and the turret 1is indexed to carry said jaws 6, 7 back to station I to receive anotherfilament.

Referring now in greater detail to the construction of the mechanism,the turret 1 is aflixed to the shaft 2 which is journaled in a bearingblock 24 (FIG. 1) on a bracket 25 mounted on a table 26. For indexingthe turret, there is also afiixed to shaft 2 a drum 27 (FIGS. 1 and 8)on which are mounted four equally spaced rollers 28. The turret isindexed 90 when one of the rollers 28 (in the lower left quadrant inFIG. 8) is engaged by a ratchet 29 which is moved upwardly and retractedby a rod 30 under the influence of a cam 31 (FIG. 9) on cam shaft 32.The ratchet 29 is mounted for pivotal movement counter clockwise about apin 33 against the action of a leaf spring 34 in order to clear the nextroller 28 during its downstroke. The turret is locked in position byengagement of the roller 28 in the lower right quadrant in FIG. 8 in anotch 35 in an arm or shoe 36 which is pivoted on a pin 37 in anextension of bracket and which is spring loaded by spring 38 on bolt 39attached to supplementary bracket 40 on bracket 25. Overriding of theturret is prevented by a brake band 41 encircling the drum 27 and havingfixed and spring biased ends supported from a supplementary bracket 42mounted on bracket 25.

Referring to the filament holder jaws 6 and 7, the stationary jaw 6 has-a base portion 43 (FIGS. 2 and 3) by which it is attached to thespindle 8 and from which extend a pair of spaced side wall portions 44joined to a widened head portion 45 having in its face the groove 19.The angular setting of jaw 6 by which the V groove 19 is maintainedhorizontal at station I and vertical at stations '11 and IV, is fixed bya ball detent arrangement including a collar 49 (FIG. 2) which is fixedon the spindle 8 and which has a notch 50 therein engaged by a springloaded ball 51 in the journal boss 9.

The moveable jaw 7 is pivoted on a pin 46 supported in the side walls 44and is normally biased to closed position by the leaf spring 20 which isanchored by a screw 47 in a top wall portion 48 of jaw 6. For receivinga filament at station I the moveable jaw 7 is held in its fully openposition, as shown in FIG. 4. At that time the screw 52 at the rear ofjaw 7 is engaged by the high step 53 of the cam surface of a cam rod 54which extends through the interior of the spindle 8, the said cam rod 54having been moved to its retracted position While at the deliverystation IV.

Also at this time, the filament guide member 18 is in operative positionadjacent the front edge of jaws 6, 7, as shown in FIG. 4. The saidmember 18 comprises a back stop lever 55 having an inclined face 56which guides a filament dropped from chute 17 into the groove 19 in theupper face of jaw 6. At the same time, the filament is preliminarilygauged or centered longitudinally in said groove by inclined plates orside wall portions 57 (FIGS. 2 and 5) on the upper end of said lever 55.Also at this time, the filament is prevented from rolling on out of thegroove 19 by a back up wall portion 58 on the underside of moveable jaw7 behind and parallel to the groove 19. The said wall portion 58 isrecessed in a cavity or groove 59 in fixed jaw 6. The lever 55 of guidemember 18 is pivoted :on a pin 60 by a connecting rod 61 which isattached to an arm 62 (FIG. 5) extending laterally from a push rod 63which is actuated by a track in the face of cam 64 on shaft 32. The saidpivot pin 60 for guide lever 55 is carried by a block 65 (FIG. 5) on theupper end of a rod 66 which is supported from a bracket 67 on table 26.The said guide 18 is thereby adjustable for height on rod 66 to line upthe angle of the inclined face 56 with the V groove 19 in jaw 6.Connecting rod 61 brings the guide 18 into contact with the end of jaw 6to eliminate any opening for the filament to be caught in when slidinginto the groove 19.

After the filament has been dropped into groove 19 in jaw 6, themoveable jaw 7 is permitted to be closed by spring 28 upon forwardmovement of cam rod 54 to the position shown in FIG. 3 wherein the endof screw 52 is opposite and slightly spaced from the low point 68 on rod54. The forward movement of cam rod 54 is effected by a bent rodextension 69 (FIGS. 1, 5 and 9) on the end of a lever 70 which isactuated by a cam 71 on shaft 32. The said rod 69 moves cam rod 54forward by engagement with a pin 72 (FIGS. 1 and 3) on a collar 73fastened to said rod 54. The said collar is square in outline (FIG. 8)with one of its sides in sliding engagement with the upper surface of arearward extension 74 of the slide 4 to thereby prevent rotation of saidcam rod 54.

The slide 4 is normally held in a fixed position lon gitudinally of theturret by a retainer ring member 75 (FIG. 1) which engages a slot 76 inthe underside of the extension 74 of said slide and which is fixed onthe journal block 24. The filament guide member 18 is pivoted back outof the way of the jaws 6 and 7 by the rod 61 and the turret is indexed90 by ratchet 29.

At station 11 the filament received its final gauging when the gaugingcups 21 (FIGS. 5 and 7) are moved into alignment with the axis of thenow vertically disposed filament. The grip of jaw 7 on the filament istemporarily relaxed when the cam rod 54 (FIGS. 3 and 4) is retractedsufficiently to bring an intermediate step 77 of the cam surface intoengagement with the screw 52 on jaw 7. This retraction of cam rod 54 iseffected by lever 78 (FIG. 9) which has a slotted face on a block 79 atthe upper end of the lever and which is engaged by pin 72 upon arrivalof the head at station II. During the gauging period the lever 78 holdsthe cam rod in its intermediate position under the influence of drum cam80 (FIG. 9) on shaft 32.

The gauging cups 21 are in the form of screws having conical recesses 81in the ends thereof and which are mounted in the ends of respectivelevers .82 and 83 which are pivoted on pins 84 and 85 which aresupported from a bracket 86 on table 26. Lever 82 is actuated by a pushrod 87 which is connected to a lever 88 which is actuated by an edge camsurface 89 on cam 64. The lever 82 drives lever 83 throughinterengagement of gears 90 on the respectivepins 84 and 85, and saidlevers 82 and 83 are biased to closing position by a spring 91.

The legs 12 of the filament coil 11 are engaged in the conical cavities81 of cups 21 to compress the filament to a common minimum length. Afterthe cups have completed their full travel, the moveable gripping jaw 7is closed by forward movement of cam lever 54 to the position shown inFIG. 3 to hold the filament in its compressed length. As shown in FIG.7, the face of said jaw 7 is preferably relieved over most of its widthto grip the last few turns at each end of the filament body 11. Thegauging cups 21 are then withdrawn by an opening movement of the levers82 and 83 to allow indexing of the head 3 to station III which is anidle position.

At station IV the filament 11 is again in a vertical position. As thehead 3 comes into station IV, a roller 92 (FIG. 1) on the end portion 74of slide 4 engages a slot 93 in a block 94 on the end of an operatinglever 95 (FIGS. 1 and 9). The said lever 95, under the control of cam 96on shaft 32, moves the slide 4 forward to the position shown at stationIV in FIG. 1 with a pin 96 on boss 10 engaging a stopscrew 97 supportedfrom the turret 1. Forward movement of slide 4 is permitted by virtue ofa gap 97 (FIG. 1) in the ring 75 which normally holds the slide byengagement with slot 76 therein. The slotted block 94 is in a slantedposition on lever 95 so that in the retracted position of the lever 95the slot 93 is in a vertical position to properly receive the roller 92.

During the forward movement of slide 4, the roller 98 (FIGS. 1, 3 and 5)on spindle 8 engages the inclined surface 99 of a cam plate 100 torotate the spindle 8, and jaws 6 and 7, from the vertical, for exampleabout 15 as shown in FIG. 5 (at station IV), so that the filament legs12 will clear the hooks 13 (FIG. 6) in the stem 16. When the filamenthas been carried to its forward position, in the plane of the lead wires14 and 15 of stem 16, it is rotated into the hooks 13 and clamped. Forthe purpose of rotating the filament, the cam plate 100 is mounted onthe push rod 63 whereby the plate 100 is lowered. At that time, theroller 98 is located within a hook member 101 (FIG. 5) carried by thecam plate 100. Rotation of jaws 6 and 7 and spindle 8 is not affected bynonrotation of cam rod 54 because the clearance between screw 52 and camsurface 68 is sufficient to permit the slight rotation of jaw 7 withrespect to rod 54.

The clamping of the hooks 13 is effected by the pairs of jaws 22, 23 and22, 23 (FIG. 1) which may be similar to those shown in theaforementioned Patent 2,984,266, Lohrey et al. The jaws 22 and 23 forclamping the upper hook 13 are mounted on respective lever arms 102 and103 which are pivoted on a pin 104 in a bracket section 105 carried bythe bracket 67. The said clamping arms 102 and 103 are biased towardopen position by a spring 106 and are actuated through rollers 107 onthe ends thereof by a vertically reciprocating cam 108. Said cam 108 ismounted on one side of a slide 112 which is reciprocated in a slottedbracket extension 113 by a push rod 16% which is actuated by a cam 110(FIG. 9) on shaft 32. The jaws 22' and 23 are mounted on arms pivoted onpin 111 and which are similar to arms 1131 and 102, a fragment of arm102' and its associated roller 107' being shown in FIG. I. Said arms forjaws 22 and 23 are actuated by a cam like the cam S and mounted on theopposite side of the slide 112.

After the hooks 13 have been clamped, the moveable filament clamping jaw7 is opened by retraction of cam rod 54 to the position in FIG. 4, andthe slide 4 is carried back to its retracted position on turret 1. Theopening of the jaw 7 is effected by movement of lever '76 engaging pin72 on cam rod 54, the said lever 70 being also used to close the jaw 7at station I through the extension 69 as described hereinbefore.

The filament clamping jaw 7 remains open as the turret 1, is indexedfrom station IV to station I which brings the jaws to a horizontalposition ready to receive another filament.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States is: 1. A filament transfer mechanism comprising a turrethaving a horizontal axis, a plurality of slides mounted around .theperiphery of said turret for reciprocation parallel to said turret axis,a pair of jaws on each said slide, means normally biasing said jaws toclosed position to clamp a filament coil therebetween with the coilextending transversely of the turret axis and its legs extending beyondthe sides of said jaws, jaw actuating means on said slide operable tohold said jaws in open position against the action of said jaw biasingmeans, means operable to index said turret to carry said slides to aplurality of stations including loading, gauging and delivery stations,said jaw actuating means holding said jaws in open position at saidloading station for receiving a filament', means operable upon said jawactuating means at said loading station to effect closing of said jawsto clamp the filament coil, means operable upon said jaw actuating meansat said gauging station to effect temporary partial opening of said jawsto relax their grip on the filament coil, gauging means at said gaugingstation arranged to be engageable with the legs of a filament in saidjaws, means for actuating said gauging means to engage said filamentlegs and compress the filament coil longitudinally to a predeterminedlength during the period of temporary partial opening of said jaws andto maintain the compressed condition of the coil until after said jawshave been returned to closed position whereafter said jaws continuouslygrip said coil in the said compressed condition, means operable uponsaid slide at said delivery station to move it forwardly along saidturret and to retract it, means operable upon said jaws at said deliverystation to rotate them about an axis parallel to said turret axis forintroducing the filament legs into the hooks on a lamp stern preparatoryto the clamping of the legs in said hooks, and means operable upon saidjaw actuating means at said delivery station after the hooks have beenclamped about the legs of the filament to effect opening of said jaws.

2. A filament transfer mechanism comprising a turret having a horizontalaxis, a plurality of slides mounted around the periphery of said turretfor reciprocation parallel to said turret axis, means operable to indexsaid turret to carry said slides to a plurality of stations including aloading station at the top of said turret and a delivery station at oneside of said turret, a fixed and a moveable jaw carried by each saidslide, said fixed jaw being mounted on said slide to be lowermost whenat the said loading station and having in its upper horizontal face alaterally extending groove to receive the body of a filament coil withthe coil legs extending beyond the sides of said jaw, means normallybiasing the moveable jaw to closed position to clamp a filament coil insaid groove, jaw actuating means on said slide operable to hold themoveable jaw in open position at said loading station to permitreception of a filament coil, means operable upon said jaw actuatingmeans at said loading station to effect closing of said moveable jaw toclamp the filament, said jaws holding said filament coil to be inupright vertical position upon arrival at said delivery station, meansoperable upon the slide at said delivery station to move it and the jawscarried thereby forwardly to a delivery position whereat the filamentmay be introduced between the hooksof a lamp stem and to then retractthe slide, and means operable upon said jaws during the said forwardmovement thereof to rotate said jaws a small amount and thereby tilt thefilament held thereby from the vertical so as to clear said lamp stemhooks, means operable upon said jaws while at the end of said forwardmovement to rotate them back to their initial position with the filamentcoil held vertically and its legs positioned in the lamp stem hookspreparatory to the clamping of the legs in said hooks, and meansoperable upon said jaw actuating means subsequent to operation of thelast named means after the hooks have been clamped about the legs of thefilament to move said moveable jaw to open position and thereby releasethe filament coil.

3. A fiiament transfer mechanism comprising a turret having a horizontalaxis, a plurality of slides mounted around the periphery of said turretfor reciprocation parallel to said turret axis, means operable to indexsaid turret to carry said slides to a plurality of stations including aloading station at the top of said turret followed by a gauging stationfollowed by a delivery station at one side of the said turret, a fixedand a moveable jaw carried by each said slide, said fixed jaw beingmounted on said slide to be lowermost when at the said loading stationand having in its upper horizontal face a laterally extending groove toreceive the body of a filament coil with the coil legs extending beyondthe sides of said jaw, means normally biasing the moveable jaw to closedposition to clamp 21 filament coil in said groove, jaw actuating meanson said slide operable to hold the moveable jaw in open position at saidloading station to permit reception of a filament coil, means operableupon said jaw actuating means at said loading station to effect closingof said moveable jaw to clamp the filament, means operable upon the jawactuating means at said gauging station to temporarily retract themoveable jaw slightly away from the associated fixed jaw to relax itsgrip on the filament coil held thereby, gauging means at said gaugingstation including cup members located to be at respective sides of thejaws at said station in alignment with the filament coil held thereby,and means operable to move said cups toward said jaws to a predeterminedspacing to engage the filament coil legs and compress the filament coilto a predetermined length during the interval that the grip of said jawson the coil is relaxed and to maintain the coil compressed until afterthe said temporary retraction of the moveable jaw has been terminatedwhereafter said jaws continuously grip said coil in the said compressedcondition, said jaws holding said filament coil to be in uprightvertical position upon arrival at said delivery station, means operableupon the slide at said delivery station to move it and the jaws carriedthereby forwardly to a delivery position whereat the filament may beintroduced between the hooks of a lamp stern and to then retract theslide, and means operable upon said jaws during the said forwardmovement thereof to rotate said jaws a small amount and thereby tilt thefilament held thereby from the vertical so as to clear said lamp sternhooks, means operable upon said jaws while at the end of said forwardmovement to rotate them back to their initial position with the filamentcoil held vertically and its legs positioned in the lamp stem hookspreparatory to the clamping of the legs in said hooks, and meansoperable upon said jaw actuating means after the hooks have been clampedabout the legs of the filament subsequent to operation of the last namedmeans to move said moveable jaw to open position and thereby release thefilament coil.

4. In a filament transfer mechanism of the class described, thecombination of a turret having a horizontal axis, a plurality of slidesmounted for reciprocation parallel to said turret axis, each said slidecarrying a hollow spindle extending parallel to said turret axis, afixed filament holding jaw mounted on an end of said spindle, acooperating moveable clamping jaw carried by said fixed jaw, springmeans normally biasing said moveable jaw to closed position, a shiftablecam rod extending through said spindle and having cam surface portionsengageable with said moveable jaw to hold it in respective fully openand partially open positions, and means mounting said spindle on saidslide for rotation about its axis to thereby rotate said jaws. I

5. A filament transfer mechanism comprising a turret having a horizontalaxis, a plurality of slides mounted around the periphery of said turretfor reciprocation parallel to said turret axis, means operable to indexsaid turret to carrysaid slides to a plurality of stations including aloading station at the top of said turret and a delivery station at oneside of said turret, each said slide carrying a hollow spindle extendingparallel to said turret axis, a fixed filament holding jaw mounted atthe forward end of said spindle and normally so oriented that, when atsaid loading station, an upper horizontal face of said jaw has therein atransversely extending groove to receive the body of a filament coilwith its legs extending beyond the sides of said jaw, a cooperatingmoveable clamping jaw carried by said fixed jaw, spring means normallybiasing said moveable jaw to closed position to clamp the filament insaid groove, a shiftable cam rod extending through said spindle andhaving a cam surface portion engageable with said moveable jaw to holdit in open position, and means mounting said spindle on its slide forrotation about its axis to thereby rotate said jaws, means operable uponsaid cam rod at said loading station to effect closing of said moveablejaw to clamp the filament, said jaws holding said filament to be in avertical position upon arrival at said delivery station, means operableupon said slide at the delivery station to move it forwardly to adelivery position whereat the filament may be introduced between thehooks of a lamp stern and to then retract the slide, means operable uponsaid spindle at said loading station during the forward movement of saidslide to rotate the spindle and the jaws carried thereby so as to tiltthe filament carried thereby from the vertical so as to clear said lampstem hooks, means operable upon said spindle while at the end of saidforward movement to rotate the spindle and jaws back to their initialposition with the filament coil held vertically and its legs in the lampstern hooks preparatoryto the clamping of the legs in said hooks, andmeans'operable upon said cam rod subsequent to operation of thelast-mentioned means after the hooks have been clamped about the legs ofthe filament to move said moveable jaw to open position and therebyrelease the filament coil,

6. A filament transfer mechanism comprising a turret having a horizontalaxis, a plurality of slides mounted around the periphery of said turretfor reciprocation parallel to said turret axis, means operable to indexsaid turret to carry said slides to a plurality of stations including aloading station at the top of said turret followed by a gauging stationfollowed by a delivery station at one side of said turret, each saidslide carrying a hollow spindle extending parallel to said turret axis,a fixed filament holding jaw mounted at the forward end of said spindleand normally so oriented that, when at said loading station, an upperhorizontal face of said jaw has therein a transversely extending grooveto receive the body of a filament coil with its legs extending beyondthe sides of said jaw, a cooperating moveable clamping jaw carried bysaid fixed jaw, spring means normally biasing said moveable jaw toclosed position to clamp the filament in said groove, a shiftable camrod extending through said spindle and having cam surface portionsengageable with said moveable jaw to hold it in respective fully openand partially open positions, and means mounting said spindle on itsslide for rotation about its axis to thereby rotate said jaws, meansoperable upon said cam rod at said loading station to effect closing ofsaid moveable jaw to clamp the filament, means operable upon said camrod at said gauging station to temporarily retract the moveable jaw topartially open position and relax its grip on the filament held thereby,gauging means at said gauging station including cup members located tobe at respective sides of the jaws at said station in alignment with thefilament coil held thereby, and means operable to move said cups towardsaid jaws to a predetermined spacing to engage the filament coil legsand compress the coil to a predetermined length during the interval thatthe grip of said jaws on the coil is relaxed and to maintain the coilcompressed until after the said temporary retraction of the moveable jawhas been terminated whereafter said jaws continuously grip said coil inthe said compressed condition, said jaws holding said filament to be ina vertical position upon arrival at said delivery station, meansoperable upon said slide at the delivery station to move it forwardly toa delivery position whereat the filament may be introduced between thehooks of a lamp stern and to then retract the slide, means operable uponsaid spindle at said loading station during the forward movement of saidslide to rotate the spindle and the jaws carried thereby so as to tiltthe filament carried thereby from the vertical so as to clear said lampstem hooks, means operable upon said spindle while at the end of saidforward movement to rotate the spindle and jaws back to their initialposition with the filament coil held vertically and its legs in the lampstem hooks preparatory to the clamping of the legs in said hooks, andmeans operable upon said cam rod subsequent to operation of thelast-mentioned means after the hooks have been clamped about the legs ofthe filament to move said moveable jaw to open position and therebyrelease the filament coil.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,781,796 2/1957Dilts -7l.6 2,984,266 5/1961 Lohrey et al. 14071.6 3,000,407 9/1961Anthony et al 1407l.6 3,039,497 6/1962 Hamilton et al. 140-7l.6

CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner.

1. A FILAMENT TRANSFER MECHANISM COMPRISING A TURRET HAVING A HORIZONTALAXIS, A PLURALITY OF SLIDES MOUNTED AROUND THE PERIPHERY OF SAID TURRETFOR RECIPROCATION PARALLEL TO SAID TURRET AXIS, A PAIR OF JAWS ON EACHSAID SLIDE, MEANS NORMALLY BIASING SAID JAWS TO CLOSE POSITION TO CLAMPA FILAMENT COIL THEREBETWEEN WITH THE COIL EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY OF THETURRET AXIS AND ITS LEGS EXTENDING BEYOND THE SIDES OF SAID JAWS, JAWACTUATING MEANS ON SAID SLIDE OPERABLE TO HOLD SAID JAWS IN OPENPOSITION AGAINST THE ACTION OF SAID JAW BIASING MEANS, MEANS OPERABLE TOINDEX SAID TURRET TO CARRY SAID SLIDES TO A PLURALITY OF STATIONSINCLUDING LOADING, GAUGING SAID DELIVERY STATIONS, SAID JAW ACTUATINGMEANS HOLDING SAID JAWS IN OPEN POSITIONS AT SAID LOADING STATION FORRECEIVING A FILAMENT, MEANS OPERABLE UPON SAID JAW ACTUATING MEANS ATSAID LOADING STATION TO EFFECT CLOSING OF SAID JAWS TO CLAMP THEFILAMENT COIL, MEANS OPERABLE UPON SAID JAWS ACTUATING MEANS AT SAIDGAUGING STATION TO EFFECT TEMPORARY PARTIAL OPENING OF SAID JAWS TORELAX THEIR GRIP ON THE FILAMENT COIL, GAUGING MEANS AT SAID GAUGINGSTATION ARRANGED TO BE ENGAGEABLE WITH THE LEGS OF A FILAMENT IN SAIDJAWS, MEANS FOR ACTUATING SAID GUAGING MEANS TO ENGAGE SAID FILAMENTLEGS AND COMPRESS THE FILAMENT COIL LONGITUDINALLY TO A PREDETERMINEDLENGTH DURING THE PERIOD OF TEMPORARY PARTIAL OPENING OF SAID JAWS ANDTO MAINTAIN THE COMPRESSED CONDITION OF THE COIL UNTIL AFTER SAID JAWSHAVE BEEN RETURNED TO CLOSED POSITION WHEREAFTER SAID JAWS CONTINUOUSLYGRIP SAID COIL IN THE SAID COMPRESSED CONDITION, MEANS OPERABLE UPONSAID SLIDE AT SAID DELIVERY STATION TO MOVE IT FORWARDLY ALONG SAIDTURRET AND TO RETRACT IT, MEANS OPERABLE UPON SAID JAWS AT SAID DELIVERYSTATION TO ROTATE THEM ABOUT AN AXIS PARALLEL TO SAID TURRET AXIS FORINTRODUCING THE FILAMENT LEGS INTO THE HOOKS ON A LAMP STEM PREPARATORYTO THE CLAMPING OF THE LEGS IN SAID HOOKS, AND MEANS OPERABLE UPON SAIDJAW ACTUATING MEANS AT SAID DELIVERY STATION AFTER THE HOOKS HAVE BEENCLAMPED ABOUT THE LEGS OF THE FILAMENT TO EFFECT OPENING OF SAID JAWS.